Jongdae slowly opened his eyes, seeing things slowly come into focus; he could see a white ceiling, and white walls surrounding it. It didn’t take him longer than a couple of seconds to realize that he was in a hospital room; he looked around, feeling very groggy and a bit not in control of his movements yet. His head was buzzing, but he didn’t feel any pain.

“Hey… How are you feeling?”

He heard Minseok’s voice, and then realized that the grey blob on the chair next to him was actually his partner. His vision was coming to very slowly, but he could already see the kind and soft features of his friend’s face.

“Pretty wonderful, actually.”

He answered with a large smile. It was true, he felt great. After what he had remembered going through, he expected to be feeling a lot worse. Minseok laughed at his statement, responding right away.

“That’s probably because you’re high on painkiller right now. I’m pretty sure it’ll not be so wonderful when the drugs wear off.”

The two friends laughed, and with the movement, Jongdae felt something strange on his chest. He then remembered that that was where he was cut open, and while putting his hand over the hospital gown, he could feel the stiches that were holding his skin together. Minseok was right, that would hurt a lot without painkillers.

“What happened?”

He finally asked, getting serious. But the fact that Minseok looked pretty relaxed made him feel confident that all was okay.

“We got him.”

Minseok boldly said, and the phrase made Jongdae smile. It was such a relief.

“He didn’t resist, probably because three trained detectives were pointing their guns at him, and he was arrested.”

Minseok expanded, and Jongdae nodded, feeling his body still a bit stiff, but his mind seemed to be waking up.

“How did you know?”

The younger asked, wondering what clue had led them to the man, or if it was just his disappearance that made the three detectives storm the house.

“Well, I was concerned that you didn’t come back when you said you would, and you weren’t answering your phone, so I was already worried about you. Then the list of employees from the newspaper arrived, and I recognized his face. Later we found that he had worked on all the articles about the victims, he didn’t cover his tracks very well. He was even the reporter that was covering our case, writing about his own crimes as if it was something he didn’t know about. But just by seeing the picture there and knowing that you went to see him made us get a move on. And we got there just in time.”

Minseok explained.

“Not to seem ungrateful, but I would have enjoyed if you had arrived a minute earlier.”

Jongdae joked, and the two laughed again. This time Jongdae felt the cut even more. It wasn’t pain, since he knew he was still medicated, but his mind was starting to feel sharper, and with it he felt more aware of what was wrong with his body. He could feel the bandages, and the stiches. It was uncomfortable.

“But hey, at least I didn’t close the case without you, like I promised. You were there the entire time.”

Minseok joked back, and the two chuckled for a couple seconds more, before their laughter died down into smiles.

“And we stopped his ritual. He didn’t get your courageous heart.”

Minseok said, proudly looking over at his partner.

“Wow, I feel honored.”

Jongdae answered sarcastically, still smiling.

There was a knock on the door, and through it came Chanyeol and Jongin, both smiling once they saw that Jongdae was awake.

“How are you?”

Jongin asked as the two stopped by the foot of the hospital bed, looking onto Jongdae with relaxed expressions.

“I’m okay.”

Jongdae answered. He liked the vibe of mutual respect that he was feeling, it made him feel appreciated.

“I heard you took over ten stiches.”

Chanyeol mentioned, laughing a bit.

“Really?”

Jongdae’s response was genuine, as he was completely surprised by the information. He made everyone laugh of his reaction, but he didn’t mind it, turning to Minseok with a questioning look, to which the man nodded to confirm it, and then Jongdae joined in with laughter too. He had been so focused to know what happened to the case he didn’t even remember to ask what had happened to his own body.

“Thank you for saving me.”

He got a bit more serious, maintaining a smile, but wanting the two to know that he was fully sincere.

“Oh, the one you should really be thanking is your partner here!”

Chanyeol started, excitedly pointing to Minseok, and then continuing.

“He was the one who put it all together, if it wasn’t for him, we would probably have been too late.”

Jongdae looked over to his best friend, and the two exchanged a meaningful look, where Jongdae’s gratitude was apparent without the need of a single word.

The two also simultaneously thought about how the other duo wasn’t that back after all. They had spent most time hating of Chanyeol and Jongin’s success that at first it was hard to believe they were nice, but now they could see it.

“And what about Jo Inpyo? What is happening now?”

Jongdae asked, still more curious about the case than anything else. Since all detectives were in the room, that was a perfect time to talk about that topic.

“Well, he’s in jail for now, and were charging him with kidnapping, murder, attempt at murder, and so many other things, it would take a long time for me to list it all out now.”

Jongin said, smiling.

“It’s really likely that his lawyer will plea insanity though, so he might not end up in jail after all. But even if his plea is successful, he’ll just be transferred to a high security mental institution and spend his life there. It’s a lot more comfortable than prison, unfortunately, but one way or the other, he’ll be locked away for good.”

Chanyeol explained, and everyone nodded. Jongdae then raised his hand with crossed fingers, getting their attention.

“Here’s to hoping his plea fails and he’s locked away in jail for the rest of his life.”

He said, making everyone laugh and agree with him. But only hearing that whatever way the trial went, the man would end up locked away, made Jongdae feel more relaxed. That was an experience he really didn’t wish to repeat.

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